It’s been just over a year since disastrous SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng was fired after being found guilty of bringing the public broadcaster into disrepute and causing it irreparable damage.

But, say SABC insiders, even though the broadcaster has ostensibly entered a new phase and is demonstrating a commitment to change, the culture of fear and toxicity of the Motsoeneng era remains: some of his “toxic enforcers” – those heads of key departments who did his bidding whilst he was in charge – are still firmly in place and haunting the broadcaster. Many fear things are not going to get any better ahead of the 2019 general election.

Mauritian authorities have frozen 91 bank accounts linked to investor Jean-Claude Bastos, a key figure from the Paradise Papers who has close connections to Angola’s former leaders. [See nose200: A most unsaintly president.]

Mauritius Supreme Court froze the accounts in four judgments issued this month as part of probes involving Bastos [also known as Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais] and a $3 billion Angolan sovereign wealth fund investment, according to Mauritian newspaper L’Express

Two companies – each as politically connected as the other – have it out in court over awarding of contract.

Dube TradePort – a KZN-run parastatal long viewed as a cash cow of the politically connected, has just stuck it to a construction company long viewed as a recipient of dodgy tenders because of its connections.

On 21 May this year Judge Graham Lopes of the High Court in Durban ruled that the Dube TradePort Corporation was right in not awarding a 2016 tender for a bulk earthworks contract, valued at approximately R500 million, to Pinetown-based Aqua Transport and Plant Hire (Pty) Ltd but rather to Rokwil (Pty) Ltd from upmarket Kloof in Durban. Dube TradePort is situated at King Shaka International Airport.

Aqua was also rebuked by Judge Lopes because their “heads of argument are replete with nouns and adjectives designed to impugn the integrity” of both Rokwil and TradePort CEO Hamish Erskine.

A basic income grant is a necessity, not a luxury, if the country is to avoid a social catastrophe for all its citizens – according to DA MP Karen Jooste.

When, in May, the ANC rejected a recommendation that the Child Support Grant be raised to match that of the food poverty line, DA MP Karen Jooste felt a surge of “ice cold hatred” for those voting against the proposal.

It was the third time that Parliament’s Appropriations Committee had decided against recommending the proposed social grants increase. A key reason given was that it would be “too much work” to amend the Appropriations bill. The child support grant stands at R400/month while the food poverty line (FPL) is set at R441/month. The FPL is the rand value below which individuals are unable to buy or consume enough food to supply them with the minimum per-capita-per-day energy requirement for adequate health.

The “truth” about how the ANC funded its August 2016 municipal election in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro was expected to be released in May but a forensic report conducted by the council has somehow been buried. Repeated requests for comment from the city’s DA mayor Athol Trollip – who has personally driven the investigation – were curiously unsuccessful. Trollip had said previously that the report would be tabled in May. This did not happen.

Vosloo, whose own report was the first to link the western conflagration with the much earlier lightning strike, explained he had been given access to the CSIR’s final report “to check that the information we had input was accurately reflected and understood”. He added: “The CSIR team devoted a huge amount of time and resources to the project, down to buying timed international satellite picture footage – down to 18-inch resolution – which clearly shows where the fire started and how it spread. They have done an excellent job.”

Meanwhile, Clinton Manuel, Knysna’s chief fire officer who still punts his pine cone theory, has quietly resigned and left the town to take up a training position with the Cape Town fire service.

Could evaporation of sex case against St Alban’s teacher have anything to do with his father’s well-placed connections?

A torrid mystery hangs like the Sword of Damocles over swanky St Alban’s College, the expensive diocesan school for boys in Pretoria’s Lynnwood Glen, following the abrupt departure more than two years ago of sports teacher and trusted boarding house aide Sasha Lalla.

Lalla is the son of Lieutenant-General Raymond Lalla, former police crime intelligence chief and divisional commissioner, detective services. At the time he held – and still holds – a senior position in the SA Revenue Service.

One of the biggest challenges faced by social activists is transforming a Facebook “like” or Twitter re-tweet into real-world action. In the advertising world it is referred to as the conversion rate – taking a person from being merely interested to actually casting a vote or making a purchase.

This “conversion rate” has spawned entire industries along with consultants, armies of specialists and researchers to help drive commerce.

For activists and nonprofit organisations around the world finding a method that helps the public engage successfully on issues is the goal.

Angry staff say they should be demoted.
It’s been just over a year since disastrous SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng was fired after being found guilty of bringing the public broadcaster into disrepute and ...

Fire Chief Manuel’s pine-cone theory bites the dust.
Vosloo, whose own report was the first to link the western conflagration with the much earlier lightning strike, explained he had been given access to ...

Could evaporation of sex case against St Alban’s teacher have anything to do with his father’s well-placed connections?
A torrid mystery hangs like the Sword of Damocles over swanky St Alban’s College, the ...

How technology was used to upend Cape Town’s punitive water tariff.
One of the biggest challenges faced by social activists is transforming a Facebook “like” or Twitter re-tweet into real-world action. In the ...

PwC sought jail for its employees and a fine for journalist who spilled beans on tax avoidance.
On May 15 the Luxembourg Court of Appeal finally set aside PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) employee Antoine Deltour’s 2016 theft ...